Nostalgia & History > SP randomness from the mid-eighties

Been doing some digging through my older stuff and found a lot more Southern Pacific than I remembered taking. All were not too far from home here in Southern California during an era when the SP was full of variety.

1) Pool power at Pepper Ave as a westbound enters the West Colton yard with a 10 unit lash-up, including GP38's from ICG and the Katy. Taken on March 9, 1986.

2) On August 14, 1986 Cotton Belt SD40T-2 8375 is nearing the summit of Cajon Pass at Hiland with a westbound manifest. SPSF merger GP35 6354 and Rio Grande 5341 add a little extra color to the mix.

3) A pair of SW1500's, 2507 and 2568, head down the Chino Branch on January 16, 1987.

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4) Merger SD45R 7443 is seconds away from crossing the Santa Fe diamonds at Colton on a crystal clear January 11, 1987 afternoon.

5) Back up in Cajon, another SD45R 7503 climbs the Palmdale Cutoff near Alray. The date is January 13, 1985.

6) On January 15, 1986, the last B23-7 delivered to the SP, 5114 waits in the siding at South Fontana for a new crew with a westbound Sealand stack train.

That's enough for now, thanks for looking back with me.

OYW



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/12 23:14 by oyw.

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Now THAT is variety! Love the consists that were seen on the SP. Thanks for posting these shots OYW.

Ryan Wilkerson
Fair Oaks, CA

All treasures!

Photo 1, how can we explain the fresh oil slicks in between all the rails at this particular spot? I know lots of power sits here waiting to depart, but something looks more funky than normal.

Last photo... could the B23-7 be shuttle power? Or were they throwing those on cross-country trips?

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing your photos.

Daniel Quiat

Love it! Great stuff all around.

Kit Courter
Menefee, CA
LunarLight Photography

Excellent selection.
JB

A nice rainbow of colors, especially that first shot...thanks for the look back.

Kent in Carmel Valley

If Pool Power were all that interesting somebody would have written a book about it!

rehunn Wrote:
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> If Pool Power were all that interesting somebody
> would have written a book about it!


I thought McMillan did a book on pool power.

rehunn Wrote:
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> If Pool Power were all that interesting somebody
> would have written a book about it!

Four Ways West produced a book just on pool power a few years ago.

http://www.fourwayswest.com/id46.html

Cheers,
Harry

rehunn Wrote:
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> If Pool Power were all that interesting somebody
> would have written a book about it!


Damn Rich...that's cold!

KC

Those are beautiful. Keep digging!

No WAY is pool power bad. Love those pics keep them coming!! Yes, there was a book recently that Harry eluded to, and the Joe Shine 1988 SP roster book has a whole chapter devoted to pool power.
Chris

Yes Pool is Cool and that is a Great lash-up in your first picture! Shot #5 is just plain Awesome. The mid-80's sure were Good times on the SP!

For those of you who don't know, "oyw" is the author of the book being discussed.

Very nice shots Bob, that first shot is just crazy! That was the SP at it's best.

A B23-7 leading a stack train? How radical is that!

It's not radical at all in terms of SP LA, the shuttle runs between LA and
the Harbor frequently drew everything from sets of SD39's to the GP60 demos
to most anything.

Great pics of the classic SP! Keep them coming at us..........